Ελληνικά
Last Updated on 05:24 PM by Lilliana Tseka
It´s been a long, hard and winding road for mankind, but in December 2011 the moment we´ve all – yet unknowingly and yet unaware of our coming salvation – been waiting for finally saw the light of day.
So, in 2011, half-brothers Zack Anderson (bass) and Cory Berry (drums), formerly of Radio Moscow, were in Iowa and met singer Elin Larsson, who was staying in California. Together they recorded two demo tracks and published them on YouTube, after which label “Crusher Records” offered them a deal. The band toured to Spain and France, where they met 16-year-old guitarist Dorian Sorriaux, whom they invited to Örebro and made a member of the band. Elin Larsson, Cory Berry, Dorian Sorriaux and Zack Anderson, all just in their early twenties, formed a group which should quickly become one of the most acclaimed and interesting bands in music. Behold the birth of a new musical experience; an experience we thought was long gone, lost in time and space. Behold the birth of Blues Pills.
The young American-Swedish-French quartet create a very unique, intense and extraordinary rock atmosphere while at the same time having a major mainstream appeal that takes you right back to the time of Blues Pills’ ancestors Aretha Franklin, The Original Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Cream. Driving bass lines, grooving drums and guitar solos from another planet by the only 17 year old Dorian Sorriaux, harmonized and tied together with such easiness, such delight, by Elin’s incredible voice, sometimes singing in her mother tongue, Swedish.
In May 2012 they released an EP called “Bliss”, followed by the “Black Smoke” single in July. The band toured extensively during 2013 with appearances in Berlin’s “Desertfest” in April, in Bad Kötzting’s “Void Fest” and Geel’s “Yellowstock Festival” in August, in Bonn’s “Crossroads Festival” in October and Melbourne’s “Cherry Rock Festival” in November 2013.
While having toured heavily across Europe and visiting Australia without even having an album out, Nuclear Blast released the highly-acclaimed EP “Devil Man” and a live EP including four tracks recorded at the legendary German WDR Rockpalast to appease the constantly growing hunger and demand, from both fans and media: “Live At Rockpalast”.
Blues Pills’ official lyric video for ‘Devil Man’
The band´s eagerly awaited debut album “Blues Pills” was released in 2014 and is yet another document of their musical talent. The album’s special edition included a DVD of their appearance in the “Hammer of Doom” festival from the year before. It was recorded in Gothenburg with infamous producer Don Alsterberg (Graveyard) and it is the product of a vision which was already beginning to manifest itself, before the thought was even imagined. It contains 10 songs filled with feelings of love and hate, joy and sadness, relaxation and frustration, all balancing together to form a whole picture which is the album “Blues Pills” and a cover of the Chubby Checker song “Gypsy”. The album also consists of two singles “High Class Woman” and “No Hope Left For Me”, both released with music videos by Nuclear Blast.
Video for ‘High Class Woman’, from Blues Pills’ debut album.
Many reviews praised the improvement on the re-recording of the tracks that had previously appeared on EPs. Reviews mention the sound and style comparing to 60s blues and 70s rock influences. The album received predominantly positive online professional reviews.
Shortly after the release of the first album, Cory Berry was replaced with new drummer André Kvarnström.
Video for ‘No Hope Left For Me’, from Blues Pills’ debut album.
Entering 2015, the Swedish-Franco-American foursome is set to publish its first ever full live record, delivering an obvious choice. “Blues Pills Live” was recorded at renowned German Freak Valley Festival, a somewhat “aspiring underground phenomenon”. Considering the history of Blues Pills, it could not have been any other event to be presented on such a release: Festival founder Jens Heide has not only been supporting the young musicians from “day one, before our demos where public or even recorded, before we even played a single show, before ‘Devil Man’ even was written and before the band was fully formed,” as vocalist Elin Larsson points out, he even gave the band its name!
The self-titled debut album has sold over 100,000 copies since its release in 2014.
During the end of 2015 and the start of 2016, the band started writing and recording their second album. Now the young four-piece with the international line-up is stepping it up a notch on the new studio album “Lady In Gold”, proving that the band has matured enormously, musically speaking. “Lady In Gold” was released on August 5, 2016. It consists of ten tracks including a cover of Tony Joe White’s “Elements and Things” from the 1969 album “…Continued”.
Vocalist and co-songwriter Elin Larsson commented: “Lady gold is a character who symbolizes death. We wanted a twist on the typical stereotype of death being the grim reaper. So instead we made her a lady in gold.” The band was happy to reveal that Don Alsterberg (Graveyard, Division of Laura Lee and Jerry Williams) once again took the production role of the album.
Bassist, founding member and main songwriter Zach Anderson commented on the artwork of the album: “The design comes from the dutch artist Marijke Koger-Dunham who already worked with us for the first album cover. We are super proud to have the opportunity to work again with such a legendary artist who has even worked with The Beatles, Cream and many more. The original design was made by her 50 years ago. We worked together to adapt the colors to fit the mood of the album. Hopefully our fans will like it as much as we do.”
“Lady In Gold”, from the same titled album of the band
Blues Pills will be visiting Greece for a couple of shows in Thessaloniki and Athens, on March 10th and 11th respectively. In Thessaloniki Blues Pills will perform at Principal Club Theater, while Piraeus 117 Academy will be the venue for the gig in Athens.
For more information about the shows visit the following links:
Thessaloniki: https://www.facebook.com/events/1027804247329975/
Athens: https://www.facebook.com/events/1197973596948143/
